Program-holder.



J. N. MARTIN.

PROGRAM HOLDER.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 8, 1911.

1,004,802. Patented 0013.3,1911.

EI IL.

- COLUMBIA PLANonRAPn C0..WASHINOTON. D. c.

JOHN N. MARTIN, OF NEWPORT NEWS, VIRGINIA.

PROGRAM-HOLDER.

Application filed June 3, 1911.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 3, 1911.

Serial No. 632,061.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN MARTIN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Newport News, in the county of Warwick and State of Virginia, have invented new and useful Improvements in Program-Holders, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to holders for programs, menu cards and the like, and has for its object to provide a holder which will protect the program or other sheet placed therein; from which the programs may be readily removed, and in which they may be as readily inserted when they must be renewed or changed; and in which the covers or boards which are usually utilized for advertising purposes may be readily changed when the advertising matter is altered or renewed or when they become Worn or soiled.

The holder is made up of a minimum number of parts, so that a saving in material is effected and the whole of the cover or holder proper is bound together by a single fastening element, so that its assembling and its separation when the advertising covers or boards are changed, is simple and convenient.

Briefly stated, the invention comprises binder-plates for the ends of the covers or boards, which binder-plates are hinged together in pairs, the pintle for the hinges consisting of two pintle rods which are separably connected at their inner ends, the outer ends of these pintle rods being bent over into the fold of the book so as to form spring clips for holding the program in place.

In order that the invention may be under stood by those skilled in the art, I have shown in the accompanying drawings, one embodiment thereof, but as the drawings are merely illustrative and not restrictive, I do not limit myself to the eXact details of construction depicted therein.

In said drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a holder made in accordance with my invention; Fig. 2 is a view, on a somewhat larger scale, of the holder open and the program removed, one of the covers or boards being omitted in order that the illustration may be clear; Fig. 3 is a detail viewof the turnbuckle and portions of the two-part pintle rod.

Referring to the drawings by numerals,

like numbers indicating like parts in the several views, 8 indicates binder plates which, as shown, are designed to engage the ends of the covers or boards 4, preferably of card-board, on which advertisements may be printed. The binder-plates 3 are preferably made of a thin metal and are bent so as to form receiving grooves for the ends of the covers 4, the plates 3 preferably having their corners turned as shown at 5, so as to engage the side edges of the boards.

At their inner ends the binder-plates are provided with complementary hinge members which are nested together to form the hinge 6, and these hinges are engaged by the two-part pintle rod 7, the two members of which are connected at their adjacent ends by any separable connection, the one shown in the present form being of the turn-buckle type and comprising the turn-buckle 8 which is swiveled to one member of the twopart pintle rod 7 and is screw-threaded with the other as best shown in Fig. 3. This turn-buckle is preferably made of sufficient length so as to give some room for adjustment of the end plates 3 toward and from each other lengthwise of the book, and thereby make provision for variations in the length of the covers or boards 4: and the programs. Each of the members of the two-part pintle rod is bent over at its end, as shown at 9, so as to form a programengaging clip, these clips 9 being preferably sprung downward slightly and having an outturned end so as to give a spring-grip to the program, and, furthermore, to permit the program to be readily slipped beneath such spring clip. The top member of the pintle-rod 7 is doubled, as shown at 10, to form an eye to which a chain or fastening may be secured and the holder, together with the program, secured to the back of theater chairs when utilized for this purpose, thus preventing the annoyance sometimes experienced of these holders being carried away.

In use, the holders will be separated by unscrewing the turn-buckle 8, and the boards or covers 4, with the appropriate advertisements will be inserted. The turnbuckle will then be coupled and the end plates 3 drawn together, embracing the ends of the boards or covers 4. The program may then be slipped into its holding clips and the programs thus mounted distributed and if desired secured in place. It will be observed that a very small amount of metal is used in making up these holders, and that by running the end plates along the ends only of the boards or covers I and turning them down on the corners merely enough to keep the boards from being slipped out sidewise, the side edges of the boards or covers 4 are left free and the holder may be handled without danger of soiling the hands or gloves from metal, thereby enabling me to use a reasonably cheap grade of metal. Furthermore, the end plates 3 may be built of a very light and easily worked sheet, for by doubling it and giving it the turnedcorner construction, and securing the plates together by the long pintle rod extending from one end to the other, a cover having suflicient rigidity is provided. The construction, as I have devised it, is such that these holders may be so cheaply made as to enable a theater to install them and thereby reduce the number of programs which are ordinarily used, for these programs, as is Well known, are usually carelessly dropped on the floor after the performance and a new supply must be furnished. By the use of this device the loss in programs will be comparatively small, as but few will remove the programs from the holder after the performance and in such case it is of course easy to renew them again. Then the bill changes the program for the next performance may be easily substituted and when the advertising matter on the boards or covers 4: is to be altered new boards may be printed and substituted for the old ones.

I claim 1. A program-holder comprising two pairs of end plates hinged together at their adjacent ends, and means for connecting said pairs of end plates so as to secure boards or covers therein.

2. A program-holder comprising two pairs of end plates hinged together at their adjacent ends, and means for adjustably connecting said pairs of end plates so as to secure boards or covers therein.

3. A program-holder comprising two pairs of cover-receiving end plates hinged together at their adjacent ends, each of said plates having its corner turned over to en gage the side edges of the covers, and means for connecting the said pairs of end plates.

4. In a program-holder, cover-receiving end plates hinged together in two pairs at their adjacent ends, and a pintle rod extending from one pair of plates to the other and adapted to connect the pairs together and secure the covers in place.

5. In a program-holder, cover-receiving end plates hinged together in two pairs at their adjacent ends, and a two-part pintle with two pairs of cover-receiving end plates hinged together at their adjacent ends, of means for connecting the pairs of plates together, and means for securing a program in place in said holder.

8. In a program-holder, the combination with two pairs of cover-receiving end plates hinged together at their adjacent ends, of

means for connecting the pairs of plates together, and means adjacent each end plate hinge for securing a program in place in said holder.

9. In a program-holder, the combination with two pairs of cover-receiving end plates I hinged together at their adjacent ends, of means for connecting the pairs of plates together, and spring clips ad acent each hinge for securing a program in place in said holder.

10. In a program-holder, the combination with cover-receiving end plates having hinge loops at their adjacent ends, and pintle rods for said hinges having theirv extremities inturned so as to lie in the fold of the cover and form program-engaging clips.

11. In a program-holder, the combination with two pairs of cover-receiving end plates,

having hinge loops at their adjacent ends,

of a pintle-rod extending from one pair of end plates to the other to connect said plates, said pintle-rod having its extremities inturned and lying in the fold of the holder so as to form program-holding clips at each 1 end.

12. In a program-holder, the combination with two pairs of cover-receiving end plates having hinge loops at their adjacent ends,

an adjustable pintle rod for said hinges, said j loops extending from one pair of end plates to the other, the extremities of said pintle rod being bent inwardly to form programengaging clips, and a chain-receiving eye formed in the pintle rod at one end.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscrlbing w1tnesses.

JOHN N. MARTIN.

Vitnesses RICHARD MORRIS NELSON, O. H. PLUMMER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each Washington, D. C.

, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, 

